14,334 research outputs found
The silicate absorption profile in the ISM towards the heavily obscured nucleus of NGC 4418
The 9.7-micron silicate absorption profile in the interstellar medium
provides important information on the physical and chemical composition of
interstellar dust grains. Measurements in the Milky Way have shown that the
profile in the diffuse interstellar medium is very similar to the amorphous
silicate profiles found in circumstellar dust shells around late M stars, and
narrower than the silicate profile in denser star-forming regions. Here, we
investigate the silicate absorption profile towards the very heavily obscured
nucleus of NGC 4418, the galaxy with the deepest known silicate absorption
feature, and compare it to the profiles seen in the Milky Way. Comparison
between the 8-13 micron spectrum obtained with TReCS on Gemini and the larger
aperture spectrum obtained from the Spitzer archive indicates that the former
isolates the nuclear emission, while Spitzer detects low surface brightness
circumnuclear diffuse emission in addition. The silicate absorption profile
towards the nucleus is very similar to that in the diffuse ISM in the Milky Way
with no evidence of spectral structure from crystalline silicates or silicon
carbide grains.Comment: 7 Pages, 3 figures. MNRAS in pres
Multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362
We present a multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362.
UBVRcIc CCD photometric observations, together with available data in the
Chandra data base, near infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey
(2MASS), and recently published Halpha spectroscopy were used to get
information about the evolutionary stage of the cluster and the main physical
properties of its stellar content. Cluster membership is estimated for every
individual star by means of ZAMS and isochrone fitting. The cluster is
confirmed to host a richly populated pre-main sequence (PMS), and to contain a
large amount of X-ray emitting stars, which reach from the PMS members of GK
spectral type, up to the most luminous OB type main sequence (MS) members. The
PMS cluster members show no significant age spread, and the comparison to both
PMS and post-MS isochrones suggests a younger age for the more massive MS than
for lower mass PMS members. The analysis allows to asses the validity of
currently used pre-main sequence evolutionary models, and supports the
suggestion of a well defined positive correlation of the X-ray emission from
PMS stars with their bolometric luminosity. Clear differences are found on the
other hand, between the X-ray activity properties of MS and PMS cluster
members, both in the relation between X-ray luminosity and bolometric
luminosity, and in spectral properties as well.Comment: 1 gzipped file: 1 tex file with 9 pages text. 5 ps files with
figures. Submitted to Astrophysical Journa
Active galactic nuclei synapses: X-ray versus optical classifications using artificial neural networks
(Abridged) Many classes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been defined
entirely throughout optical wavelengths while the X-ray spectra have been very
useful to investigate their inner regions. However, optical and X-ray results
show many discrepancies that have not been fully understood yet. The aim of
this paper is to study the "synapses" between the X-ray and optical
classifications.
For the first time, the new EFLUXER task allowed us to analyse broad band
X-ray spectra of emission line nuclei (ELN) without any prior spectral fitting
using artificial neural networks (ANNs). Our sample comprises 162 XMM-Newton/pn
spectra of 90 local ELN in the Palomar sample. It includes starbursts (SB),
transition objects (T2), LINERs (L1.8 and L2), and Seyferts (S1, S1.8, and S2).
The ANNs are 90% efficient at classifying the trained classes S1, S1.8, and
SB. The S1 and S1.8 classes show a wide range of S1- and S1.8-like components.
We suggest that this is related to a large degree of obscuration at X-rays. The
S1, S1.8, S2, L1.8, L2/T2/SB-AGN (SB with indications of AGN), and SB classes
have similar average X-ray spectra within each class, but these average spectra
can be distinguished from class to class. The S2 (L1.8) class is linked to the
S1.8 (S1) class with larger SB-like component than the S1.8 (S1) class. The L2,
T2, and SB-AGN classes conform a class in the X-rays similar to the S2 class
albeit with larger fractions of SB-like component. This SB-like component is
the contribution of the star-formation in the host galaxy, which is large when
the AGN is weak. An AGN-like component seems to be present in the vast majority
of the ELN, attending to the non-negligible fraction of S1-like or S1.8-like
component. This trained ANN could be used to infer optical properties from
X-ray spectra in surveys like eRosita.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Appendix B only
in the full version of the paper here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3484086/AGNSynapsis_OGM_online.pd
Effects of Gamma Ray Bursts in Earth Biosphere
We continue former work on the modeling of potential effects of Gamma Ray
Bursts on Phanerozoic Earth. We focus on global biospheric effects of ozone
depletion and show a first modeling of the spectral reduction of light by NO2
formed in the stratosphere. We also illustrate the current complexities
involved in the prediction of how terrestrial ecosystems would respond to this
kind of burst. We conclude that more biological field and laboratory data are
needed to reach even moderate accuracy in this modelingComment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Dielectric antenna effects in integrating line piezoelectric sensors for optoacoustic imaging
This work studies the adverse effects, as regards noise, of immersing in
water an integrating line piezoelectric detector devoted to optoacoustic
imaging. We found that the sensor, in conjunction with the acoustic coupling
medium (water), behaves as a resonant dielectric antenna. This phenomenon
limits the performance of the system because it efficiently captures unwanted
electromagnetic signals. The requirement of good acoustic coupling between the
water and the sensor precluded the use of a standard metallic shielding
enclosure. Therefore, we resorted to a silver-paint based electrical shield
deposited on the detector. This easy-to-implement and low-cost solution
significantly increases the signal to noise ratio and does not degrade the
acoustic performance. The noise reduction allows the use of a better
transimpedance amplifier with higher gain and bandwidth; thus achieving a very
sensitive, low-noise detection system.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, submitted to Meas. Sci. Technol. on
March 24, 202
The X-ray nature of the LINER nuclear sources
The analysis of the X-ray data for a sample of 51 LINER nuclei with available
X-ray Chandra imaging is reported. Our aim was to investigate the physical
mechanisms which power LINER nuclear activity. The use of multiwavelenght
information at radio, UV, optical HST and X-ray lead us to conclude that at
least 60% of the LINERs are hosting a low luminosity AGN in their nuclei. This
percentage may be even higher if the Compton-thickness of some nuclei (mostly
with SB-like hard X-ray morphology) is confirmed.Comment: Conference proceedings to appear in "The Central Engine of Active
Galactic Nuclei", ed. L.C. Ho and J.-M. Wang (San Francisco: ASP
Upholding the unified model for Active Galactic Nuclei: VLT/FORS2 spectropolarimetry of Seyfert 2 galaxies
The origin of the unification model for Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) was the detection of broad hydrogen recombination lines in the optical polarized spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy (Sy2) NGC 1068. Since then, a search for the hidden broad-line region (HBLR) of nearby Sy2s started, but polarized broad lines have only been detected in ?30–40% of the nearby Sy2s observed to date. Here we present new VLT/FORS2 optical spectropolarimetry of a sample of 15 Sy2s, including Compton-thin and Compton-thick sources. The sample includes six galaxies without previously published spectropolarimetry, some of them normally treated as non-hidden BLR (NHBLR) objects in the literature, four classified as NHBLR, and five as HBLR based on previous data. We report ?4? detections of a HBLR in 11 of these galaxies (73% of the sample) and a tentative detection in NGC 5793, which is Compton-thick according to the analysis of X-ray data performed here. Our results confirm that at least some NHBLRs are misclassified, bringing previous publications reporting differences between HBLR and NHBLR objects into question. We detect broad H? and H? components in polarized light for 10 targets, and just broad H? for NGC 5793 and NGC 6300, with line widths ranging between 2100 and 9600 km s?1. High bolometric luminosities and low column densities are associated with higher polarization degrees, but not necessarily with the detection of the scattered broad components
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